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Culture Watch:Becoming Sons of Issachar
by Lee Warren (Lee's bio)
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Can you name one fiction or non-fiction book on the New York Times best seller list published last week? Can you name one song on the Billboard top 40 list from last week? Can you name one of the top ten grossing movies of this past week? These are questions that an editor of a large Christian publishing company asked writers at a writers conference recently. These are great questions that Christians need to ask themselves.
Why? Don't we have more important things going on right now that need our attention? Our nation is at war and that effort may be about to expand. We have family, church and work responsibilities. Who has time to notice the latest fads of pop culture? And why should we care?
Did you know that one of the twelve tribes of Israel was known for understanding their culture? In 1 Chronicles 10, King Saul was killed. David is made the king of Israel in chapter 11 and as he prepared his army for war in Chapter 12, I'm sure he was glad to have the sons of Issachar on his side. 1 Chronicles 12:32 says this about the tribe, “…the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…”
Pop culture is simply a snapshot into the minds of a nation's citizenry. The sons of Issachar understood the culture that they lived in and they knew what their nation ought to do as a result. The American church can't make the same claim because we've ran away from culture, deeming it worldly or a waste of time. The sons of Issachar would disagree.
Here is the Amazon.com top ten best selling book list as of the hour I wrote this article. (Yes, Amazon.com updates their best sellers list hourly.) It includes fiction and non-fiction.
- Prey by Michael Crichton
- Bush at War by Bob Woodward
- Four Blind Mice by James Patterson
- The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker, Michele Scicolone
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
- Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-4) by J. K. Rowling
- Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Hornet Flight by Ken Follett
I have no intentions of reading any of the books that are currently on Amazon.com's top ten list. But by reading jacket blurbs, visiting Amazon.com's website and by reading book reviews in the newspaper, I am more prepared for conversations about “what's hot,” and it gives me time to think about each topic from a biblical perspective. So, if I hear a friend or acquaintance talking about the latest Harry Potter book or about a book “where a fourteen year old girl watches from heaven as life goes on without her after she is murdered” I will be prepared to discuss it from a biblical perspective.
I know that not every book, song or movie is asking the deep questions of life, but all of them do portray a world-view. And we need to know about that world-view before we can agree with it, expand on it or refute it. Please don't hear me saying that we need to make ourselves susceptible to the influence of every form of debauchery that pop culture has to offer. I'm not saying that at all. Being aware of culture is a far cry from being yoked to it.
Before I became a Christian, music seemed to have a real hold on me. So, I am more careful about the music I expose myself to as a Christian than I am with other aspects of culture. You'll need to do the same thing with areas of culture you may struggle with. Beyond my need to be careful about what I listen to, I generally just don't like most modern music. For those two reasons I haven't stayed up to date on the latest musical trends and I am therefore unable to converse with others about the modern music industry. But I need to be more aware of it and it is something I'm seeking to improve upon.
As a writer, I need to know who my audience is before I write anything. If I don't know who my readers are and what they believe, I won't be able to make a connection with them—and they will quickly turn into non-readers of my writing. The same principle applies for us as Christians. When we speak to people, we need to know who they are and what they believe if we are going to truly interact with them. And ultimately, isn't that what we are hoping for?
Copyright 2003, Lee Warren. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Lee Warren: Lee Warren is a freelance writer from Omaha, Nebraska. He has written for various publications and is currently working on a novel. If you are interested in reading more of his work or in receiving his column via e-mail, please go to his website: www.leewarren.net or drop him an e-mail: LeeWJunior@cox.net.
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